A Sparkly Apple Cupcake Kiss. ♥

 I am very happy to say that people *love* that I add sparkles to my cupcakes.

This is what happened to my lips the other day after I ate one of my cupcakes:

The best thing is when a man comes to visit me while I am working in the kitchen (whether it be friend, potential romance, or even my dad)..and the second he graces my presence, I see a speck of glitter on him.  I don't know how it happens so fast, but it does. I don't even have to touch him! It is quite endearing seeing a speck of glitter on a man's face, t-shirt, anywhere..really! The thing is, none of the men that have graced my glittery presence have seemed to mind at all.

                                                             ♥

Wouldn't James Franco look great with a speck of Amanda Cupcake glitter on him?

♥

So yesterday I went out looking for my dreams, a trail of sparkles leading me.
For a place to call home. My future cupcakery.  I am not sure when it will happen, but I know that it has to!

This is a quote my sister-in-law posted on facebook this week and it is so true to any of us who have creative dreams. The creative dreams that live in our mind that we want to become tangible!

Wouldn't it be great if Audrey was eyeing my cupcakes in this window? Cupcakes for breakfast. Quite a vision and a dream I have.

After my search for my dreams yesterday, I went straight to the kitchen to work on a new cupcake.  I was inspired, and I think I reached a whole new level with these:

Apple Crisp-Pie Cupcakes ♥

I baked  mini apple pies inside of a spiced cupcake. So it sort of became this moist autumn spiced cinnamon-a-licious apple pie cake masterpiece in my mouth. 

I always like to cut my cupcakes in half to reveal the beauty that is yummy.

Just so people know what they are in store for.. I baked additional mini apple crisp pies to top the swirl of salted caramel that is on top of the spiced apple-crisp pie cupcake!

♥

The cupcakes sold out today at Cronie's in Waupaca.

♥

My friend that was watching me create this concoction (and yes..I saw glitter on him).. said that I looked like a mad scientist! (In a cutesy cupcake-ish polka dot apron sort of way).

I love being the mad sparkly cupcake scientist who wears polka dots and gets my apron "dirty" with glitter.

Or if I forget an apron, I sacrifice my jeans to the glitter and frosting.   I didn't even really want to wash them.

You can be a mad sparkly scientist who goes all crazy surprising people with edible gifts inside of cupcakes too:

My recipe for mini apple crisp pies:

(These are also perfect alone. Think....delicious finger food at a Fall Soiree!)

I tested the Apple Crisp recipe from one of my mentors Martha Stewart and adapted it to fit Amanda Cupcake.

You will need:

Stuff:

• Mini Pie Tins or Tart Tins (make as many as you want.  You might eat some of them while on your baking journey).
• An Apron
• Disco Dust (Preferably in Rainbow or Hologram Gold)
• An Apple Corer

Yum:

• 3 Pounds of Baking Apples (sliced into tiny tiny tiny thin slices so they fit inside of the mini pie crusts)
• Pillsbury Pie Crust
• 3/4 Cups of All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Cup Plus 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
• 1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

(you can store any leftover crisp in your freezer to use later)

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. Prepare your mini pies.  Roll out your pie crust, and use your mini pie tins as "cutters" to cut out the pie crust that will fit nicely into your mini pie tin!

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt and the 2 Tablespoons of Granulated Sugar.

3.  Cut up the butter and use a pastry blender (or you can use other things if you don't have a pastry blender-like your clean hands, or two knives). Just make sure you mix all together until the mixture is clumpy and coarse. You can freeze this while you move on to your next step.

4.  In another bowl, toss your mini apple slices with the fall flavors of cinnamon, remaining sugar, a tiny bit of flour, and lemon juice.

5. Line your cookie sheet with mini pie tins.  Fill each prepared pie crust with your seasoned apples.

6.  Top your seasoned apples with apple crisp mixture.

7.  Bake in oven at 375 for about 20-25 minutes (ovens vary).

8. The crusts should look light brown when finished, and people should nearby should be exclaiming while drooling, "It smells like fall in here!

To continue the sparkle trail of dreams..

Sprinkle some sparkles on the top of your mini pie!

Follow my blog instructions here on how to bake a mini pie inside of a cupcake!



Lemon Love Notes ♥

I was writing my business plan tonight.

I was on the first page where I had to state my mission.  One of the my missions in my journey to start a bakery is to share joy and love with the world through my cupcakes.  Another vision of mine is to bring community together to just forget about everything on the outside world, and perhaps for even a moment there would be "peace" in the realm of cupcakes.

Think of the time when you were young, and looked forward to that grand cake entering the room, your friends centered around you.  The cake glowing with candles.  Sprinkles, sparkles, crumbs, wishes for the future.

Then I knew that I had to share something I had planned for over a year here on my blog..

and when I was the cupcake sponsor for the Fox Valley Technical College's scholarship benefit, I made this "vision" a reality.

To share an edible message inside of cupcakes. A love note, really.  In this case, a "Lemon" Love Note.

I cut up little pieces of fondant into small rectangles, used my edible marker, and wrote inspiring messages for the future on each piece.  This is for you! Daydreamers, starving artists, future business owners.  This is for you!  The ones who build starting from the bottom and climb your way to the top. The believers, the idealists, the optimists. 

Extra credit:  Mini raspberry pies inside of the Lemon Love Note cupcakes.

All that inspiration topped with a cloud of light, fluffy, lemon zested frosting!

When I displayed the cupcakes at the event, I made a sign to tell people to expect a special "note" on the inside of their cupcake.  Adding the note was a bonus perk for the people who ate the cupcakes! Instead of stuffing your face, you had to take your time...enjoy the flavor...and....discover....your lovely edible note.

Thank you to my lovely assistants Cassie & Lonnie who are the joys in my kitchen with me. They helped me write out all these messages while we laughed, danced, and sang to bad music while decorating these cupcakes.

Now that I have started, I can't seem to stop passing love notes.

I made some "girls night out" Lemon Love Notes.

Instead of hiding the message inside, I found the best possible valentine heart messages for a girls night out and displayed them as the love notes on top of the cupcakes!

Go Girl!

It's True.

 

On a deeper "note".....

I even added some inspirational tags to some mail order cookies for someone who really deserved a surprise uplift of joy in the mail.

"We can do no great things....only small things with great love."~Mother Teresa